Afternoon Drive with Xolani Gwala

Eskom's decision to postpone signing a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) due to a stable power grid has raised concerns in the energy sector.

This comes amid rumours of South Africa possibly going nuclear, a decision which Treasury insists the country cannot afford. In 2014, Minister of Energy (Tina Joemat-Pettersson) announced that South Africa had signed a nuclear partnership agreement with Russia and it's state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom.

702's John Robbie spoke to Chairperson of the SA Photovoltaic Industry Association, David Chown, about the implications of the postponement in signing the agreement with Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project.

The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association is a non-profit organisation concerned with contributing to the country's renewable energy sector.

Listen here for the interview:

We need to understand why they [Eskom] don't want to do this because it does signal something for the rest of the projects waiting for their signature date.

— David Chown, South African Photovoltaic Industry Association

The knock on impact that it does have when we start talking about investor confidence is not to be underestimated.